The Copyright Act of 1976, particularly the guidelines on fair use, did much to clarify the ambiguity of the 1909 Copyright Act in relation to new electronic media. Although some specific guidelines for teachers were included, it should be noted that microcomputers and disk drives were not yet widely available in 1976. Because experts were divided on what direction the protection of computer programs should take, Congress turned the question of copyright over to the National Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU). Based on the recommendations of CONTU, the Copyright Act was amended in 1980 to define computer programs as literary works and to specify how a computer program may be used. Several points should be noted by educators: (1) it is illegal for anyone other than the owner of the program to make duplicate copies; (2) although a back-up copy may be produced, this is an archival copy and should not be used on another computer; (3) it is illegal to make multiple copies without a licensing agreement; (4) it is illegal to boot a series of microcomputers sequentially with a single disk; and (5) it is illegal to modify a program so that it may be accessed by multiple users via networking. Five references are listed. (MES)